Degree of Fear
by OcelotKitten
Summary: Snape is sent by Dumbledore to check on Harry when rumors of his treatment by the Dursley's begin circulating. What he finds shocks even him. WIP
1. Chapter 1

3Summary: Professor Snape goes to check on Harry at the request of Dumbledore, and what he finds shocks even him.  
  
Author's Notes: I think Snape ended up being a little OOC, but he had to be for the story to work. Never fear, he's still his usual sarcastic, nasty self, I just don't think that he'd actually end up being as nice to Harry as he does. I must say that I found Beatrice's "Corruption of Innocence" a major inspiration for the dear Potions Master's character, and props to her for writing a magnificent tale that I am waiting on pins and needles for the end of.  
  
Rating: PG-13 for abuse and possible mild language  
  
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Degree of Fear  
  
By OclelotKitten __________  
  
  
  
Professor Severus Snape swore softly to himself as he stood on the stoop outside the little house at Number Four, Privet Drive. Why Dumbledore had selected him out of all the teachers to go and check on Potter was beyond him. The headmaster knew perfectly well that Snape detested the boy. McGonagall, being the head of Gryffindor house, or even Hagrid would have been a better choice. Actually, Snape mused, it was probably because Albus knew how he felt about the boy, and hoped that this might help them to get along a little better. That realization only made Snape's mood even fouler.  
  
Impatiently, he rang the bell again, anxious to be out of this Muggle world, and back to Hogwarts. He should have been back there and back to his potions already, he fumed, but Dumbledore was worried about rumors he'd been hearing about the way Potter was being treated by his aunt and uncle. Snape sneered to himself. No doubt Albus was feeling guilty about leaving the boy with these Muggles after his parents had been killed.  
  
Snape raised his hand again to ring the bell, but he let it drop as the door opened to reveal a rotund boy. This must be Dudley Dursley. His piggish small eyes widened in surprise at such a strange visitor. Forcing a moderately conversational tone, which still sounded like it could have frozen water, Snape said, "Good afternoon, I'm here to see Mr. Potter." The boy seemed about to speak, but just then Vernon Dursley pushed the door open the rest of the way, and sneered, "Oh, it's one of you . . . folk, is it? Well, I'm sorry, but Harry's not taking any visitors just now." He started to close the door, but Snape held it open with a flick of his wrist and a softly muttered word.  
  
"I don't think you understand," Severus said silkily, "You don't have a choice in the matter. I am on official Hogwarts business, and I will see the boy." Dursley looked about to argue, but he apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor, because he stepped aside, and waved Snape in. Quickly taking in the interior of the little house, Snape said, "Where is Harry?" Dudley giggled, and ran to bang on the door to the cupboard under the stairs. Snape was puzzled, until he saw a dusty and bedraggled Harry emerge from the tiny room. Harry's hair was even more wild than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he hadn't slept or eaten properly in weeks.  
  
Dursley grabbed Harry by the collar of his tattered and worn shirt, and growled, "Straighten up, boy. You . . . we have a visitor." Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Snape. The Potions master nodded slightly in greeting, "Potter." Suddenly, Dursley cuffed Harry on the ear, and snapped, "Go make the tea, boy. And be quick about it!" With a meek, "Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry scurried off to do his uncle's bidding. Snape was stunned. This couldn't be the famous Harry Potter. The same boy who had faced down Lord Voldemort three times, once when he was but a baby? The same boy who had faced a three-headed dog and a giant basilisk and lived to tell of it? Snape couldn't believe it.  
  
Dursley cleared his throat and said with not a little scorn, "If you would like to wait in the living room? Tea will be served shortly."  
  
"Thank you," Snape said coldly, and seated himself on the over-stuffed couch. He was left alone in the room as Dursley disappeared into the kitchen, no doubt to harangue Harry again. As Snape sat, he was chagrined to discover that his opinion of the boy was beginning to change. When he had attended Hogwarts, he had hated Harry's father James and all his pals, and now that Harry was at the school, Snape hated the son as fiercely as he had ever hated the father. Some of it was probably from good old-fashioned Slytherin-Gryffindor enmity, but Snape freely admitted that he felt Harry should be treated like any other student. He did his best to make sure that Harry never received any special treatment, even handing out extra penalties to discourage the boy from thinking that his fame would get him out of detentions and such. But some of it, and Snape would never have admitted this to anyone, was that . . .  
  
Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass from the kitchen interrupted Snape's musings. There were a series of heavy thuds, and a lot of muffled shouting, and Harry emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of food. His left eye was swelling shut, and turning an interesting shade of purple. Fresh blood ran down from his forehead into the eye, obscuring whatever vision Potter might have had left. Snape started in utter shock as he saw the boy's condition. He tried to tell himself that he didn't care about Harry state of being, that the sheer suddenness of the injury caught him off guard, but it didn't seem quite convincing. Harry was about to speak when Dursley came back in and said, "I told you to go get cleaned up, Harry! Hop to it!" With a pleading look at Snape, Harry set the tray down, and disappeared back into the kitchen. Snape demanded, "What happened to him?"  
  
"He dropped the teapot and slipped in the tea. He hit his head on the counter," Dursley snapped, "Besides, it is none of your business what the clumsy little fool does." Snape was about to retort when he noticed the splash of fresh blood on the other man's knuckles. Surprised, he said nothing, and Dursley went back into the kitchen. Shortly, there was yet more yelling, another thud, sickening crunches, and a cry of pain. Determined to see for himself what was going on, Snape strode over to the kitchen door, and swung it open. The sight that greeted his eyes stopped him cold.  
  
Harry lay curled up on the floor by the sink, the water still running, one arm wrapped tight around his stomach, the other flopped at a strange angle on the floor. Dursley stood over him with his foot pulled back to deliver another kick, his back to the door. Dudley sat at the kitchen table, crowing with laughter, obviously enjoying the spectacle. "What is going on here?" Snape snarled, voice carrying through the kitchen. It was a tone of voice honed through years of calling down students and freezing them in their tracks. It did no less to Dursley, and when another kick was not forth-coming, Harry looked up to find out what had stopped the assault from his uncle. He saw Snape, and gave him a grateful look, with enormous pain evident on his face. Vernon recovered quickly and said, "I told you that it is none of your concern!"  
  
Snape drew himself up to his full, imposing height and said coldly, "It is all of my concern. I was sent to check on him, and I have found these conditions unacceptable. I am taking him out of here." Striding past Dursley, Severus gently helped the boy to sit up while pulling his wand out of his robes. He tapped Harry's arm and said, "Ferula." Bandages and a splint spun into existence and wrapped themselves neatly around the arm. Snape helped him to stand and said, "Go pack your things, Potter." The look of gratitude on Harry's face was almost pitiful to see as he stood and went to his cupboard. Snape started to follow, but Dursley stormed over and poked the Potions master in the chest with one fat finger, "Now see here! You can't just go and take him!"  
  
"Oh? Can't I?" Snape said sarcastically, folding his arms, "I believe that there are Muggle laws protecting children from abusive homes. And even if there aren't, I'm sure there is not a witch or wizard who would not want to protect Harry Potter." He brushed past Dursley, who was sputtering something that Snape didn't bother to listen to. Stooping down, he peered inside the cupboard. Harry was packing his few schoolbooks into a small bag. "Where is your owl?" Snape asked, looking around the little room.  
  
"I asked Hagrid to keep her for me over the summer. I didn't want her here again," Harry said as he came out of the cupboard. He started to pick the bag up to sling it over his shoulder, but Snape saw that it would be difficult with his arm in a sling. "Let me take that Potter," Snape said, smoothly taking the pack. The look on Harry's face was stunned to say the least. Irritably pushing away thoughts of why he was doing so much to help this boy that he loathed, Snape strode over to the fireplace, and pointed his wand at the cold hearth. A simple charm of "Incendio," and a fire flared into life. Putting the wand away, Snape pulled a vial of Floo powder from a pocket in his robe. He poured a bit of the powder into his hand, and tossed it onto the cold hearth. Stepping into the fire, he intoned, "Hogwarts Infirmary." Harry limped up beside him, and the fire swirled and flared up around them. The last thing visible in Number Four, Privet Drive was Vernon's purple face, contorted in rage. 


	2. Chapter 2

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Degree of Fear  
  
By OcelotKitten  
  
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Between the flares of rushing flames, glimpses out of many fireplaces could be seen. A house . . . a business . . . another house . . . then the Hogwarts hearths began appearing. Snape watched carefully and when he saw the Hogwarts Infirmary, he stepped out, gently pulling Harry with him. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office at the noise, and cried out in shock. She was horrified at the boy's condition, and barraged Snape with questions about what had happened to him as she bundled the boy into a spare bed. Snape only got out of the Infirmary after insisting that he had to meet with Dumbledore, and promising to return as soon as possible to answer all her questions. Pomfrey relented when he reminded her that the stairwell to Dumbledore's office was very close by, and he would be back quickly. Having finally made it out, Snape made his way to Dumbledore's office. The sleepy gargoyle guarding the door was at first inclined to be surly, but it moved aside at Snape's use of the password (Sugar Quills), and Snape stepped onto the moving staircase.  
  
As soon as Snape entered the office, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, fluttered over to him. The bird began singing mournfully, sensing the Potion Master's mood. Snape stroked the bird's head for a moment, as Dumbledore watched him questioningly. "I take it the news is not good, Severus?" Dumbledore said. Snape shook his head slowly, "No, Albus, it is not." He related everything that had happened with the Dursley's, as Dumbledore listened, speechless. When Snape had finished, Albus sat for a moment in silence. Even the paintings on the walls seemed speechless about what they had heard. Then, Dumbledore seemed to find his voice and said, quietly, "Severus, I am shocked. I knew that those people weren't the best we could have left him with when he was young, but I thought that they would be best considering that they were the only family he had. Now, I can't help but feel responsible for placing him in that situation."  
  
"You couldn't have known, Albus. None of us could have," Snape said softly, "If he had taken his owl with him, he could have gotten word to us, but he left her with Hagrid, knowing what it would be like with his . . . family." Snape spat the last word like a curse.  
  
"Indeed," Dumbledore said, "Well, there is nothing for it now, he is here, and here he shall remain unless and until we can find a place for him."  
  
"I feel somewhat responsible for him, Albus," Snape said hesitantly. A raised eyebrow was Dumbledore's only response. Snape continued, "I treated him so badly for so long, keeping alive ancient grudges, and now I can't help thinking that I never gave him enough of a chance while I was trying to make sure that he didn't get too much of one. Seeing him today like that . . . I don't know, I'm finding it hard to hate him anymore."  
  
"I had no idea that it would come in this way, but do you know that was my intention in having you check on him? To perhaps have your opinion of him change."  
  
Snape snorted, "Yes, I thought as much."  
  
"Well, after all that's happened to him, he's going to need a friend until the summer ends, and his classmates come back. Severus, this may be the perfect chance for you and he to learn to get along."  
  
Snape was at first offended by the idea, and almost said so, but something in the back of his mind gave him pause. His reaction was instinctive, but as he thought about it, Snape realized that he didn't find the idea of a summer spent in the company of Harry Potter quite so abhorrent as he once had. Granted, the idea didn't exactly appeal to him, but no more so than it would have been with any other student. 'What's happening to me?' Snape wondered, 'There was a time when the notion of me voluntarily spending even two minutes with Potter was ludicrous.' Such thoughts also brought up the uncomfortable question of why Snape had helped Potter in the first place, and Snape wasn't quite ready to deal with that yet. Which was a bit sad, he mused, what was second nature to so many, to help one in need, when done by him, was a noteworthy occurrence, and needed scrutiny.  
  
Suddenly, he became aware of Dumbledore still watching him, waiting for his response. He said, "Sorry, Albus. Perhaps you are right." A small smile ghosted across his face, "Although it will be strange when the students come back, they are so used to he and I being at each other's throats."  
  
It was plain that Dumbledore hadn't expected to have Snape's agreement with so little fight. He smiled, obviously pleased, and said, "They should be about finished with him in the infirmary, why don't you go check on him."  
  
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AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one, even when I had upload problems, and everything was globbed together. I know that I'm not explaining much about Snape's motivation (I don't think even he knows yet), or about why Vernon was so nasty to Harry even in front of Snape (there is a reason, I promise). Never fear, all will be explained. And this is not just another "Snape-Saves-Harry" story. I am really trying to make it different from those that I've read. And for those of you wishing that Snape had simply beaten the snot out of Dursley, don't worry, he's gettign what's coming to him. 


	3. Chapter 3

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Degree of Fear  
  
By OcelotKitten  
  
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As he entered the infirmary, Snape saw that Madam Pomfrey and one of the nurses was still working on Harry. Pomfrey noticed Snape and came over. She smiled reassuringly, and said, "He should be okay, Professor. The cuts on his face looked much worse than they actually are, and they just needed to be cleaned. His eye will be black and blue for several days, but the sight wasn't impaired in any way, and the bruise will fade just like any other black eye. By far the worst injuries appear to be to his ribs and his arm."  
  
"He was kicked," Snape murmured absently, glancing at her, then back to Harry.  
  
"I thought so," she said, "At any rate, he has two cracked ribs and a fractured arm. I've already fixed them up, but he'll have to be careful not to do anything strenuous or lift anything more than a couple pounds with that arm for the next few weeks." Snape was about to speak, but Pomfrey held up a hand, "Wait, Severus. I am not finished. Those are just his immediate injuries. I found evidence of previous fractures and breaks. The breaks were professionally treated, but the fractures seem to have been left to heal on their own. Severus, he is severely dehydrated and malnourished. Who did this to him?" The look on the medi-witch's face was heart wrenching.  
  
Snape felt bile rise in his throat at the thought of what Potter had had to endure. He spat, "His . . . family." Pomfrey was speechless, but the look on her face said it all. Snape hadn't been joking when he had told Dursley that there wasn't a witch or wizard who would not want to protect The Boy Who Lived, especially one whose job it was to care for the sick and injured. Snape didn't care to be Dursley if he ever happened to meet Pomfrey in a dark alley.  
  
"Is that all?" he asked. Pomfrey shook her head. "I want to keep him here for a while, and get him healthy and rehydrated. Also, I don't know if I caught everything, so I need to keep him under observation to ascertain if anything else is wrong. Snape agreed, and when the other nurse had finished her ministrations, and Harry lay quietly on his bed, Snape came over and sat next to him. The boy watched him expectantly, and when Snape remained silent, Harry said quietly, "Why are you doing this, Professor?" The question took Snape by surprise. He looked at Harry sharply, "What do you mean?"  
  
"Why would you do all this for me? I would have thought you would leave me there. Have a bit of a laugh seeing me like that," Harry's voice was flat and toneless. Snape said, a bit more harshly than he intended, "I am not so heartless as you and your classmates think me, Potter. I could no more leave you in that situation than I could one of my own Slytherins."  
  
"I suppose not," Harry didn't sound entirely convinced, "So, what am I to do now that I am here?" Snape was grateful for the change of topic. While what he had told the boy was true: he could not in good conscience have left him in that place, Snape had left out the driving need he had felt to save Harry. The reason behind it was becoming increasingly clearer the more he danced around it, and it was disconcerting to say the least.  
  
Pushing thoughts of the past firmly out of his mind, Snape said, "Well, you obviously can't go back to where you were. You will have to stay here at Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer, until your classmates return in the fall."  
  
"But where? I can't stay in the infirmary the whole time, and I can't spend the whole time in Gryffindor tower by myself."  
  
Snape hesitated. He knew that Potter would be averse to the idea of spending the summer with him. God knew he didn't like the idea. With a sigh, Snape forged ahead, "The Headmaster feels it . . . prudent that you stay with me until school starts." The look on Harry's face was amusingly incredulous. The boy sputtered, "What?! Surely you're joking!" Irritated, Snape snapped, "No, Potter. I'm not joking. I assure you, that the idea appeals to me as little as it does to you. But, what other choice do you have?"  
  
Harry sighed, "You're right, of course." He yawned and Snape said, "It is late, Potter. You need to rest. There is time enough tomorrow for whatever else might be said." Harry nodded, and before Snape could stand up from his chair, the boy was fast asleep. Snape made his way from the infirmary down to the dungeons, his thoughts troubled. 


End file.
